Tag: Rant

If you find out you’ve been doxed (had your private information acquired and shared online), you have my genuine sympathies. I’m not suggesting you follow all of the steps below (beyond numbers six, seven, and nine), this is just how I reacted…

Be Shocked

Be Scared

Panic a Bit

Wonder if You’re Over-Reacting

Go Through a Few More Cycles of Shock and Fear

Take Screenshots of the Harassment (as evidence, in case the person deletes and denies it)

Find out How People Got Your Details, and Just What Information is Actually Online About You (HINT: It’s probably a lot)

Despair at Humanity

Block and Report the Trolls

Write an Angry Blog Post

There are a few ways I could start this blog post – this is not the blog post I had planned to be writing; I was actually feeling really productive and had planned to get shit done when someone ruined my night; I’ve recently been diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and I don’t need any of this stress right now – but all of that boils down to this: last night, some guy I have never met, decided it was appropriate to share part of my address on Twitter because I’m taking part in an event and his partner isn’t.

Yup. For real.

I’ve considered naming and shaming, but have ultimately decided not to give any more details about the situation – at least not right now – beyond saying the person did it to more than just myself, and that he’s been reported to Twitter for it.

Tomorrow, I will be promoting the event as I had originally planned, in a separate post not connected to this negative crap. I don’t want to risk bringing a really positive movement down any further. I just really needed to vent.

This is so far from okay, but I will not be scared into silence. Not over something so stupid.

Having that anxiety disorder I mentioned, and after watching my friend go through a much worse case of doxing just before Christmas, I’d been worried something like this might happen to me, and I recently bought extra security for this site – insuring that my personal details aren’t on who.is, as a result.

The take-away message is that people can still get your details easily enough. I recommend doing some searches to see what’s floating around online about you (start with Google, but also look at pipl.com), and adjusting your privacy settings accordingly.

Writing is a real job and, more specifically, it’s my full time job. Yes, full time! I may well be preaching (/ranting) to the converted here, but I need to get this off my chest.

For some, writing is a hobby. They don’t put all their time into it, and they don’t get money back out of it. But, for others, it can be and often is a legitimate job.

I am sick of people talking about my career in terms of ‘that thing you do until you grow up and choose a proper profession.’ These comments are often meant well, but that only makes them more infuriating. People are worried that I’m wasting my time, or fearful about my financial stability. Which is nice, in a way, but also rather patronizing.

I am an adult, and whether I have money to pay my bills is – shockingly – none of my friend or family’s business. The older I get, the more I realize that there is no such thing as a “safe” career path. No job is completely secure.

Sure, some are more secure than others, but if there’s going to be risk no matter what, why not aim for what you really want?

This may come across as bitter, but that’s not how I mean it. I’m simply frustrated by the attitude that my life has to fit a very narrow specification in order to constitute being acceptable.

No, I don’t work nine-to-five, Monday to Friday; and yes, I do mostly work from my bedroom, but I put in a hell of a lot of effort, and I’m not being particularly risky or ridiculous in doing so, I’m bravely living the dream.

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